Zoning and Development Update

As many of you know, the rock base has been laid and the curbing installed on Neenah Avenue through the Pearson Ranch up to Pearson Ranch Blvd. The paving of the 4-lane divided road will begin at any time and is expected to take about one month, weather permitting. The completion of Neenah from Pearson Ranch Blvd to Neenah Avenue in the Brushy Creek area is expected to take another 30 days or so, again, weather permitting.

The widening of Neenah through Davis Spring is still in the permitting phase. Williamson County, who is doing the widening of the road for the City of Austin, is still waiting on some permitting from the City of Austin regarding the trees being removed on both sides of the road. Approval could happen at any time. Thereafter, acquisition of bids and completion is expected to take about ten to twelve months. Yes, we will have a bottleneck of traffic through our neighborhood until the widening is completed. TXDOT is starting on the extension of the Pearson Ranch Blvd underpass at SH-45. This will alleviate some of the traffic from the Pearson Ranch area through our neighborhood when finished.

My main purpose in writing this letter is to call your attention to the possibility of elevated crime levels in our neighborhood when Neenah is opened to the Brushy Creek area. Here is an example for you. In Davis Spring there are no registered criminal sex offenders. In the Brushy Creek area alone, there are eight registered sex offenders. I can assure you that there are other instances like this on the Lakeline Blvd side of Parmer Lane and in the Brushy Creek area. I write this to let you know that we, as a neighborhood, need to be much more vigilant in regard to crime and watching out for each other. Get to know your neighbors. I suggest that one person on each street or block acquire a roster of all their neighbors, complete with telephone numbers, and distribute the roster to each neighbor. Update the roster as needed. I have been doing this with our block for 18 years and I believe it has been very effective, both socially and for crime watch. Take the time to notify your neighbors if you see any suspicious activity in the neighborhood. Let your neighbors know if they left a garage door open, a bike or expensive toy in the front, or the like, during the evening.

Consider taking your neighbor’s trash can from the curb or newspaper from their driveway if it has been left out or if they may have gone out of town. Place a lock on your rear gate if you reside on the greenbelt. Consider leaving a light on in the front of your house in the evening. An LED bulb replacement there will make the cost negligible.

A last suggestion is to download the app “Next Door” on your phone or tablet. We have almost 200 Davis Spring residents enrolled at this time. You can delete the adjacent neighborhoods in the top right hand corner of the app and only subscribe to Davis Spring neighborhood posts on the app. This app can be very effective. Let’s all take the time to be better neighbors. We will all benefit from this!